This invention relates to upholstered items of furniture. The invention involves the use of a tufting button which has both a decorative effect and which serves to hold padding to a frame.
The invention also involves a method of producing an upholstered item of furniture in which the upholstering is easily accomplished through the use of a flat plate which is flexed to a desired curvature following the upholstering.
In the fabrication of furniture, it is desirable to have the assembly of such furniture as simple as possible. To this end, the present invention utilizes a tufting button which provides not only the usual decorative tufting effect but which also serves to hold padding onto a frame. Desirably, such tufting buttons serve as the sole means of attachment of the padding to the frame. Furthermore, an upholstery method is employed which utilizes a flexible plate which is substantially flat in the non-flexed state and which is flexed to and held in a desired curvature in the completed item of furniture. The substantially flat, non-flexed plate is upholstered, which is easily accomplished because of the flatness of the plate. Following upholstering, the plate is then flexed to the desired curvature and secured in the flexed state. The tufting buttons just referred to may serve to secure the upholstered plate in the flexed state to a frame, creating a tufting in the upholstery.
Representative prior art patents are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 2,541,835 E. Saarinen Feb. 13, 1951 2,940,511 E. S. Gomes June 14, 1960 2,993,733 J. P. Pinkham July 25, 1961 3,009,740 G. Nelson, et al. Nov. 21, 1961 3,014,762 A. Mauser Dec. 26, 1961 3,069,204 I. K. Vesterholt, et al. Dec. 18, 1962 3,121,588 R. Beckman, et al. Feb. 18, 1964 3,127,201 H. Granlund March 31, 1964 3,206,251 J. G. Stevens Sept. 14, 1965 3,233,253 A. Cauvin Feb. 8, 1966 3,266,065 S. Bereday Aug. 16, 1966 3,285,660 R. Beckman, et al. Nov. 15, 1966 3,295,890 P. N. G. Murdoch Jan. 3, 1967 3,523,710 C. J. Barecki, et al. Aug. 11, 1970 Re. 27,336 S. Bereday Apr. 11, 1972 Belgium Patent No. 545,957 (1956) ______________________________________
The invention will be more completely understood by reference to the following detailed description, to be read in conjunction with the appended drawing.